Review of ebay turbo manifold

Cattledog · 10-09-06, 07:05 PM

Hi,

I wanted to post a review for the 1FZ-FE turbo manifold that has been foating around on ebay.

I bought the manifold in late Sept. and fedex dropped it off in early Oct. Shipping was around 2 weeks. The first manifold was broken upon arrival(you will see inthe pics). Emailed the ebay seller Autoboost that day. He was great. He replaced the manifold free of charge and shipping after sending a couple of pics. The second one arrived today via fedex. It was in great condition.

The review,

IMO the manifold is a great start point for a buget turbo system. Price is low, and the casting looks pretty good. I think that Dusty's manifold may flow better, but not many people have Dusty's skilling fabing and welding turbo manifolds. The manifold's casting is not what I consider OEM quality but it's not cheap either.

Positives for the manifold,

Machined faces for the exhaust, turbo, outer bolts and external wastegate.

Smooth interior inside the manifold.

Matches very well to the factory metal gaskets

Has holes for heat reflectors on the top of the manifold.

LOW PRICE

Down sides

Casting looks pretty thick in some spots. Might crack long term.

Missing the EGR port. (easy to machine in)

Thin casting around the outer bolts.

Weight is pretty high.
I would suggest some type of support to the lower engine/block to the manifold and turbo. Mass is around 26 lbs than add the turbo. Too heavy for my taste hanging off the side of a Aluminum head.

Here are the pics

Cattledog · 10-09-06, 07:06 PM

More pics

Cattledog · 10-09-06, 07:09 PM

More pics, PM me if you want more.

mot · 10-09-06, 08:18 PM

Thanks for the review and the pics!

Please keep up posted with the progress!

Mot

LX_TREME · 10-09-06, 08:20 PM

Thanks for the info, question in the first pic.How come there are crack lines in between those two in the middle? Is it suppose for the heat transferred? but one thing definitely can't beat the price.

Rookie2 · 10-10-06, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LX_TREME

Thanks for the info, question in the first pic.How come there are crack lines in between those two in the middle? Is it suppose for the heat transferred?

Probably to allow some stress relief for movement/elongation when the head heats up.

pulse98 · 10-10-06, 08:27 AM

Yeah, those cuts are there to minimize stress when heated. They allow for the different expansion rates of the header versus the block.

LandCrusher'70 · 10-10-06, 09:09 AM

Nice. I've seen these on eBay. Are you planning a turbo build soon? Or collecting for a project down the road?

MSGGrunt · 10-10-06, 10:28 AM

What was the price.

Dusty · 10-10-06, 12:31 PM

Way nice. I would have baught that over making one in a heartbeat. The external wastegate feature is a real plus if you are on a budget as you now have so many more options with turbo selection. The down side is that downpipe fabrication will be harder-this can be minimized by using a few inches of stainless braided flex coupler in the tube from the wastegate to the downpipe-such will allow a couple degrees of fudging so allignment is less critical-another trick is to make the tube from the wastegate to the downpipe at leaste a foot so you have more fudging-I cant tell you how much easier this will make things to line then up durring fab-I did it the harder way by using no stainless flex coupler and only a short slip joint. Also be sure to use v-band clamps as couplers from the turbo to the downpipe-they will set you back $50 but if you dont use them you will start crying durring fab of your downpipe.
The manifold is the hardest part to fab by far. The downpipe is an all day project without a helper. Once the dowpipe is finished and coupled to the exhaust you are home free-intercooler piping is cake
If you want extra bracing from the manifold to the head you can weld small bolt tabs to the manifold and connect some 1/8 strap from these tabs to the holes on the head where the heat shield was attached.
You will probably need a new heater water line as I fabbed because the manifold will brobably block the oe line.

Cattledog · 10-10-06, 03:53 PM

Dusty,

Had all the same thoughts. I will use a S.S flex pipe w/ slip joint and a v band style coupler. I have yet to install the manifold for clearance issues. I am hoping to install a turbo system in the spring.

I dropped around $300 w/shipping for the manifold.

The cuts are for heat expansion of the flange.

MSGGrunt · 10-10-06, 05:14 PM

I've searched with every key word/phrase that I can think of with zero hits. Do you know who was selling these on Ebay? Any links would be greatly appreciated.

landtank · 10-10-06, 05:16 PM

looks like the ebay guy will see some brisk bidding now, Cattledog you getting a commission?

Dusty · 10-10-06, 05:59 PM

cattledog

if you use the ss flex pipe you dont need a slip joint as long as you fab such that you can squeeze the wastegate into position

Cattledog · 10-10-06, 06:33 PM

MSGGrunt,

If you want to see the manifolds in person we could meet up. Know any place to go wheeling maybe I can get Rick to go. The seller runs an ebay store.

http://stores.ebay.com/autoboost

My bet is that some bought the manifold using buy it now. He should have more soon.

Landtank,

I am getting no money from this.

I like to support people have done me right. This ebay seller gave me outstanding service. Same idea why I bought the star to support Woody and this forum.

Thanks for the help Dusty!

informationjunky · 10-10-06, 06:54 PM

FYI in e-mail conversations I had with him before I bought mine, he stated that they were the manufacture and that it carries a life time warranty

MLX450 · 10-10-06, 07:59 PM

I saw that on ebay. It does look good. Keep us updated on this install!

landtank · 10-11-06, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cattledog

Know any place to go wheeling maybe I can get Rick to go.

Looks like I'll be home all week working on the house, I could use a day's break from it.

MSGGrunt · 10-11-06, 08:10 AM

Cattledog, When you start the build let me know if you could use an extra hand as I'm only a couple of hours from you and would look forward to the experience helping you out making my build that much easier. I'm ordering my manifold tonight.

landtank · 10-11-06, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSGGrunt

I'm ordering my manifold tonight.

get in line!

MSGGrunt · 10-11-06, 03:13 PM

I see you're bidding LandTank. I also see that he took the buy it now option off as of this afternoon. I was all set to pony up for the buy it now price.

Beowulf · 10-11-06, 06:06 PM

I think BIN automatically comes off any auction after a bid is submitted.
-B-

informationjunky · 10-11-06, 06:10 PM

If yall are patient, I believe he has plenty so there shouldn't be any need to make each other pay more.

landtank · 10-11-06, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by informationjunky

If yall are patient, I believe he has plenty so there shouldn't be any need to make each other pay more.

The last one was bid on by ktp_inacoma, we have an inacoma here with an 80 so I left that one alone.

If I loose this one I'll try again next week.

landtank · 10-11-06, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSGGrunt

I see you're bidding LandTank. I also see that he took the buy it now option off as of this afternoon. I was all set to pony up for the buy it now price.

I actually was watching for it and bid before I read that you were going to do something on this. Looks like there might be three of us here in New England looking at this project.

MSGGrunt · 10-11-06, 07:11 PM

I will not outbid you LandTank but, I would like one of these if you are the lucky winner and actually get to talk with the seller. I will keep my eyes open. I hope a peak in demand doesn't cause the price to rise.

ringpinion.biz · 10-11-06, 08:22 PM

Why dont you just send a message to him that you want to buy it, and agree on a price, he can then send you a paypal invoice, and you all can buy turbo manifolds. He should be glad to sell this way as he wont be paying ebay fees.